Friday - 6/19/2020 - Ortega River Marina, Jacksonville to Green Cove Springs Marina and Boatyard.....preparing to be hauled out :-(

Well....the time is drawing near.  Today we spent a good part of the morning preparing things for when the boat is hauled out tomorrow. 

Dawn at Ortega River Marina
Aquaholic's silhouette is in the middle

After some coffee and a bowl of granola Erik rode his bike up to Advanced Auto to purchase fuel stabilizer to put into the gas tanks when we fill them up to be stored.  Renee got a few loads of laundry done so clothes can be packed away.  Susan, our friend from the AGLCA picked us up and brought us to Avis car rental where we had found a deal to rent a mid size SUV for two days for $60 one way to Columbus.   Apparently there must be a glut of cars down here needing to find there way north because typically there is a substantial 'one way pick up charge'.  Driving home will allow us to bring our house bank of batteries home so that they don't overheat and get destroyed AGAIN.  We are also planning to bring home our portable generator, fishing tackle and miscellaneous other stuff that we did not bring home last year.   After getting the rental car Susan followed us down about 30 miles on the St Johns River to Green Cove Springs Marina where we left the rental car.   She then brought us back up to our boat in Jacksonville to shove off and head towards Aquaholic's final resting place for the year.

Susan took us on the scenic route to pick up our rental car and pointed out some of the sites
Very nice homes in Jacksonville
This one is the 'Maxwell House Estate'.....Good to the last drop!

Back at the boat we did a few final preparations to shove off.   We bid farewell to our trusty garage sale and craigslist bicycles that we have had with us on our journeys these past four years.   We donated them to the marina for other transients to use....if they can keep them going!   We definitely got out $20 out of those bikes....many miles have been pedaled in 8 states on them.  We debated, but decided to leave the cushy gel seat cover on Renee's and the classy duct tape on Erik's...lol.   We even broke down and left the water bottle holder!   Hope someone can get some good use out of them.

Bye Bye old faithfuls!  You've endured a lot

We shoved off from Ortega River a little after 1pm.  It was to be a short trip for of of only about 27 miles.   A good view of downtown Jacksonville was had as we exited the marina.  We had generally nice waters but the skies were very ominous.   We cruised at a slow 12 mph pace thinking the ominous clouds ahead might either move or dissipate.  Half way through the trip we stopped off at a marina where we had found on Waterways Guide that they had recreational non ethanol gasoline for $2.65 per gallon....much less than we have paid anywhere else these last few years.   We filled the tanks with 126 gallons and added the fuel stabilizer.

Floating in the harbor getting the boat prepped for haul out

There is the travel lift that we will be hanging in and transported to the resting spot for the rest of the year

As we were leaving the marina after gassing up the skies began looking even more ominous and lightning was flashing up ahead.   Our weather radio was alerting us that there were severe storms in the area with quarter sized hail and 40-50 mph wind gusts......uh oh!   Fortunately, our pacing seemed to have worked and we avoided everything but some fairly strong winds.   As we were arriving at Green Cove Springs another accumulation of very ominous clouds was hanging over the marina moving VERY slowly.   Rather than go in and try to catch a mooring ball, which is what we were instructed to do earlier in the day by the yard manager, in the rain and wind we hung back.   While floating and waiting we started removing all of the electronics, taking down biminis, stowing other stuff.

Floating outside of the marina harbor waiting for the DARK skies to clear.  This pic was at about 5pm

After the rain passed by the marina we came in and successfully attached to one of their mooring balls, this was a first for us but it was not issue.   

Renee's first successful snag and tie up to a mooring ball

And she was rewarded with a nice rainbow!  

Once secured and floating we continued preparing stuff on the boat and packing stuff away.   We grilled out the last of our meat, fried up our last potato and cooked up some cheddar broccoli rice for a nice sunset dinner. 

Even with the looming storms on one horizon we were blessed with a nice sky for dinner

As we sit here on the aft deck floating out in the harbor sipping coffee and working on this blog more lightning is on the horizon and the raindrops are gently falling on the bimini cover.   Since we've no ice cream we will likely partake in our last Nutty Bars before showering up and retiring to bed to hopefully get a good nights rest.   Tomorrow will be a LONG day with waiting for the boat to get pulled (they cannot guarantee us a time or give us a time window), unloading and driving home the 12+ hours.